(Atlantic) An outdoor learning experience presented itself last week to elementary students in Cass County.
5th graders from Atlantic, CAM, and Griswold made their annual trip to Cold Springs State Park in Lewis. “It’s good to get the 5th graders out here and expose them to some stuff in the outdoors. We can’t do that often enough. It’s awesome that the schools are willing to bring the kids out. We have instructors from several different sections of the DNR, NRCS, County Conservation Boards, and so we have several stations set up that the kids are rotating through. They are learning a variety of things.”
Fisheries Biologist Bryan Hayes was running the fish identification demonstration. “When you hold up live fish and they splash a little bit it’s a fun class to teach. The kids get pretty excited.” Hayes says, “I talk to the kids about how species interact to provide good fishing.”
Other stations included soil erosion around streams, predator/prey interactions, fur bearers, raptors, and fishing. “We give the kids an opportunity to fish for a half hour. 95% or more of these kids have fished before. There’s a few that have never tried and those are the ones we pay special attention to in that fishing class and hope to see catch their first fish.” Hayes says they stress to the students the importance of the outdoors as part of a healthy lifestyle.
